The Halves of Rose

Babysitting

Greg woke the sound of a high-pitched crying coming from the room next to his. As he woke, a small smile stretched across his face. "Back on the clock."

Four months had passed since his lovely wife's passing. Four months since she had given her physical forms to give life to the beautiful twins they created together.

Greg cradled the crying boy of the two in his arms, letting it drink the baby formula from the bottle. Despite the frequent calls from the twosome, he enjoyed this. He enjoyed having kids, taking care of them. Being a father had, honestly, been one of the things he had always wanted in his life... However, he didn't like that his wife died in the process...or that sleep was becoming a foreign concept.

"Slow down little man." Greg said as his baby Steven continued to chug the liquid from the bottle. Eventually, he took the bottle out of the boy's mouth.

"There we go." He said. Greg caught a whiff of something revolting and gagged. "Steven, that is the grossest thing I have ever smelled."

As he was about to get Steven a new diaper, Greg's baby girl, Connie, began to wail as well, begging for food.

"Heya Grego." Ruby greeted as Greg walked to the temple, the babies in his arms.

Greg had large bags under his eyes and he struggled to keep his eyelids from falling. Despite this, he still wore a bright grin across his face. "Hey Rube."

Ruby chuckled. "Wow, you look like a train wreck." The red gem commented.

Greg joined in. "Yea. These two have a lovely sense of time. Every time I'm about to go to sleep, you can be sure they'll go off."

Ruby's expression became one of concern as the human's eyes slowly began to close. "Hey Greg...you want me to watch them for a little while?" Ruby asked.

"No, no I'm...fine..." Greg said, his head falling forward. "Just a little...tired..."

Ruby walked forward and took the twins from the human. "Come on Greg," Ruby said softly, gently pushing Greg in the direction of his open van. "time for your nap."

Greg stopped as he ran into the back of the van. "But I'm...not even...tire-" Greg fell into the van, snoring as sleep took effect.

"Alright Ruby, babysitting time." Ruby whispered to herself. "Hey Sapphire, Opal! I need your help! I don't know how to children good!" Ruby listened for a response, finding none. "Aw shoot, they're on that mission in Antartica. I can't believe they wouldn't let me come because they thought I would melt it." Ruby sighed. "There's only one person to call at a time like this."
______________________________________

Vidalia jumped as she woke up to her doorbell ringing repeatedly. "What the-" She said in her sleep induced daze. "When did we get a doorbell?... Oh right, it was to keep Ruby from breaking the door." Her eyes widened as she woke up fully. "Ruby."

Vidalia jumped from her recliner, pulling on one of her robes on her way to the door. She opened it and tried to suppress a smirk. "Well I'll be. Why didn't you tell me you were a mother?" She joked.

"Haha, very funny." Ruby said back.

"Well I can only guess that these two are the two kids I've been hearing so much about." Vidalia said.

"Yep." Ruby said, walking inside. "So...I kinda need your help."

"What is it?" Vidalia asked. "Wait, wait, wait, don't tell me...you kidnapped Greg's kids and now you're looking for a place to stay! Don't worry, I've been preparing for this moment! I have a secret room ready behind the-!"

"What? No! I need your help taking care of these two! Greg fell asleep so I decided to babysit, but Sapphire and Opal aren't home and I don't know how to take care of kids."

"Oh...then forget about what I just said. Anyway, taking care of kids is easy, all you have to do is...what's that smell?"

Ruby sniffed the air. "I think it's them."

"Okay then, we just have to change their diapers." Vidalia said. "...you didn't happen to bring any, did you?"
______________________________________

Greg stretched out his arms as he sat up. "Ugh, I haven't slept like that for days." He looked over to see Sapphire and Opal working on the house. "Hey guys." He said with a wave.

Sapphire looked over and smiled. "Hello Greg, it's nice to see you're awake."

"Yeah, you were out all day." Opal said. "We went on two missions and you were still laying in their."

"Man, how come that always happens when I'm around you guys?" Greg rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Guess I was pretty...tired." Greg's smile dropped and became one of confusion. "Wait, how were you babysitting Steven and Connie if you were on a mission?"

"Babysitting? We've been out all day, the only one here was...oh no."
______________________________________

"Thanks for the help Vidalia." Ruby said quietly as she left the woman's house with the twins in her arms.

"Anytime." Vidalia said. "And you come back soon if you need anymore help."

Ruby smiled. "Will do."

Vidalia watched as Ruby walked away towards the temple with a fond smile, closing the door as Ruby left her driveway.

Ruby looked down at the children sleeping peacefully in her arms and gave a sweet smile. "You two are adorable." Ruby tensed as Steven began to stir. "Uh oh. Um, what do I do? What do I do?" Ruby closed her eyes and calmed down. "Alright, what was that thing called that Rose used to do that calmed down Amethyst? Something like...whistling?" Ruby felt Connie begin to stir as well. "Oh well, here goes nothing."
______________________________________

"Oh, where could she have gone?" Greg asked, pacing around on the beach.

Sapphire exited the temple. "She's not in her room." Sapphire said.

Opal followed after the blue gem. "Or any of the other ones." Opal gave a small growl in frustration. "Where could that red runt be-"

"Sh, do you hear that?" Sapphire said, silencing the team as they heard a faint whistling. "It sounds like..."

"Rock-a-bye Baby?" Greg finished with a confused expression.

As the whistling came nearer, Ruby came into view, holding the babies in her arms. Ruby saw the group looking at her and stopped whistling. "Hey guys, what's up?...Why are you all staring at me like that?"

Greg marched up to Ruby with an angry expression on his face. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been?!"

"Dude, chill out, you'll wake the babies." Ruby said, nodding towards the sleeping children.

Opal stared at Ruby in awe. "Did you...actually take care of them?"

Ruby smiled. "Well I had some help from Vidalia."

Greg blinked. "How are these two still alive?" He asked, gently taking the babies in his arms.

"And you got them to stay asleep?" Opal said with a wide smile.

"Heh, yea. Just did that thing Rose used to do." Ruby informed.

"You remember that?" Sapphire asked.

"Heck yea. Remember how adorable it was? Who could forget?" Ruby asked.

"I'm a little lost on what you guys are talking about, but thank you for helping out, Ruby." Greg said. "And sorry I didn't have much faith in you."

"Ah, don't mention it." Ruby said lightly. "But from now on, I hope you remember I'm perfectly capable of taking care of the twins."

"Um, Ruby?" Opal asked.

"Yea?"

"Why are Steven and Connie wearing shirts instead of diapers?"